Campaign for accessible colleges launched

The National Union of Students (NUS) has teamed up with the The Changing Places campaign to make college campuses more accessible.

The NUS has launched its Access Challenge campaign, which is aimed at improving the access to university and college campuses. As part of this campaign, NUS will be campaigning for Changing Places toilets to be installed on campuses.

The addition of a Changing Places toilet will help them become more accessible for people who visit with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD), but also for many other students with severe disabilities who need support to access further education.

The toilet has extra features including a a height adjustable adult-sized changing bench, a tracking hoist and more space to allow people with PMLD and other people with severe disabilities, the chance to use toilets in a comfortable and clean environment.

The Changing Places campaign is run by the Changing Places Consortium, and sponsored by Total Hygiene, a disabled toileting solutions provider.

Rupy Kaur, NUS Disabled Students’ Officer, said: “We took the decision to partner with the Changing Places campaign as we are committed to improving the accessibility of all UKcampuses.

“We hope that through the Access Challenge we will show student unions the importance of making campuses fully accessible and therefore getting Changing Places toilets installed on as many of them as possible.”

NUS will now campaign for student unions to sign up to the Access Challenge and urge them to install a Changing Places toilet on their campuses.

Lorretto Lambe, co-chair of the Changing Places Consortium, said: “We are very pleased to have NUS on board with the Changing Places campaign so we can ensure there are appropriate facilities for all students and university visitors to use the toilet.

“This latest partnership for the Changing Places campaign is a fantastic step to making college campuses fully accessible.”